Barke Antonia, Doering Bettina K
Clinical and Biological Psychology, Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, Eichstaett, Germany.
J Med Internet Res. 2020 Apr 15;22(4):e16148. doi: 10.2196/16148.
People often search the internet to obtain health-related information not only for themselves but also for family members and, in particular, their children. However, for a minority of parents, such searches may become excessive and distressing. Little is known about excessive web-based searching by parents for information regarding their children's health.
This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument designed to assess parents' web-based health information searching behavior, the Children's Health Internet Research, Parental Inventory (CHIRPI).
A pilot survey was used to establish the instrument (21 items). CHIRPI was validated online in a second sample (372/384, 96.9% mothers; mean age 32.7 years, SD 5.8). Item analyses, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and correlations with parents' perception of their children's health-related vulnerability (Child Vulnerability Scale, CVS), parental health anxiety (modified short Health Anxiety Inventory, mSHAI), and parental cyberchondria (Cyberchondria Severity Scale, CSS-15) were calculated. A subset of participants (n=73) provided retest data after 4 weeks. CHIRPI scores (total scores and subscale scores) of parents with a chronically ill child and parents who perceived their child to be vulnerable (CVS+; CVS>10) were compared with 2×2 analyses of variances (ANOVAs) with the factors Child's Health Status (chronically ill vs healthy) and perceived vulnerability (CVS+ vs CVS-).
CHIRPI's internal consistency was standardized alpha=.89. The EFA identified three subscales: Symptom Focus (standardized alpha=.87), Implementing Advice (standardized alpha=.74) and Distress (standardized alpha=.89). The retest reliability of CHIRPI was measured as r=0.78. CHIRPI correlated strongly with CSS-15 (r=0.66) and mSHAI (r=0.39). The ANOVAs comparing the CHIRPI total score and the subscale scores for parents having a chronically ill child and parents perceiving their child as vulnerable revealed the main effects for perceiving one's child as vulnerable but not for having a chronically ill child. No interactions were found. This pattern was observed for the CHIRPI total score (η=0.053) and each subscale (Symptom Focus η=0.012; Distress η=0.113; and Implementing Advice η=0.018).
The psychometric properties of CHIRPI are excellent. Correlations with mSHAI and CSS-15 indicate its validity. CHIRPI appears to be differentially sensitive to excessive searches owing to parents perceiving their child's health to be vulnerable rather than to higher informational needs of parents with chronically ill children. Therefore, it may help to identify parents who search excessively for web-based health information. CHIRPI (and, in particular, the Distress subscale) seems to capture a pattern of factors related to anxious health-related cognitions, emotions, and behaviors of parents, which is also applied to their children.
人们经常在互联网上搜索健康相关信息，不仅是为自己，也是为家人，尤其是他们的孩子。然而，对于少数家长来说，这种搜索可能会变得过度且令人苦恼。关于家长通过网络过度搜索孩子健康信息的情况，我们了解得很少。
本研究旨在开发并验证一种工具，用于评估家长基于网络的健康信息搜索行为，即儿童健康互联网研究家长量表（CHIRPI）。
通过一项预调查来确定该工具（21个条目）。CHIRPI在第二个样本中进行了在线验证（372/384，96.9%为母亲；平均年龄32.7岁，标准差5.8）。计算了项目分析、探索性因素分析（EFA），以及与家长对孩子健康相关易感性的认知（儿童易感性量表，CVS）、家长健康焦虑（改良简短健康焦虑量表，mSHAI）和家长网络疑病症（网络疑病症严重程度量表，CSS - 15）的相关性。一部分参与者（n = 73）在4周后提供了重测数据。将患有慢性病孩子的家长和认为自己孩子易受伤害的家长（CVS +；CVS > 10）的CHIRPI得分（总分和子量表得分）与2×2方差分析（ANOVAs）进行比较，因素包括孩子的健康状况（慢性病 vs 健康）和感知到的易感性（CVS + vs CVS -）。
CHIRPI的内部一致性为标准化α = 0.89。EFA确定了三个子量表：症状关注（标准化α = 0.87）、实施建议（标准化α = 0.74）和苦恼（标准化α = 0.89）。CHIRPI的重测信度为r = 0.78。CHIRPI与CSS - 15（r = 0.66）和mSHAI（r = 0.39）密切相关。比较患有慢性病孩子的家长和认为自己孩子易受伤害的家长的CHIRPI总分和子量表得分的方差分析显示，主要影响因素是认为自己孩子易受伤害，而不是孩子患有慢性病。未发现交互作用。CHIRPI总分（η = 0.053）和每个子量表（症状关注η = 0.012；苦恼η = 0.113；实施建议η = 0.018）均呈现这种模式。
CHIRPI的心理测量特性极佳。与mSHAI和CSS - 15的相关性表明了其有效性。CHIRPI似乎对因家长认为孩子健康易受伤害而进行的过度搜索更为敏感，而非对患有慢性病孩子的家长更高的信息需求敏感。因此，它可能有助于识别那些过度搜索基于网络的健康信息的家长。CHIRPI（尤其是苦恼子量表）似乎捕捉到了与家长焦虑的健康相关认知、情绪和行为相关的一系列因素，这些因素也适用于他们的孩子。
